martha: and they don't care about the price of gas. you better be there or be square. good to be in here. bill: enjoy your wonder bread for lunch today. martha: and my twinkie on the side. bill: i will join you for a sandwich and we'll see you tomorrow. martha: bayh, everybody. jenna: a fox news alert on new efforts to stop the deadly violence in the mideast. glad you are with us, everybody i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. israel gears up for a ground offensive to combat the deadly hamas rocket attacks it too prefers a diplomatic solution to end the dry sis. all this as the death toll rises to nearly one hundred. israel appears to be stepping up its bombing campaign, launching air strikes at key targets in gaza, one hitting the immediate quarters of the palestinian national security forces causing a huge explosion with thick, black smoke seen over gaza city this morning. but hamas not letting up, firing

hundreds and hundreds of rockets into israel over the past few days. 75 just today alone. israel's iron dome an antimissile battery intercepting 20 of them. reports today that one did hit a school in southern israel. thankfully, though, it was empty at the time. leland vittert live on the israel-gaza border for us now. leland. >> reporter: jon, we were at that school, there was no kids there, because they don't have snow days here, they have rocket days. today being one of them. behind me in the black abyss is the israeli artillery and their cannons moving about. for the first time today we heard them firing into gaza, ranging in their guns for a possible ground offensive as we were in the line of fire for the rockets. this is the rocket that came through the concrete roof of a major school here, a high school, through here, embedded itself there down in the ground. this is a bench where students would normally sit.

you can see it's now peppered with shrapnel, something like this shrapnel which obviously destroyed the bench could very easily kill a student. okay, you got the sirens going, we've got the sirens going, we are going to keep going. this area was hit once before, we are going to keep moving, we are going to grab this. keep coming this way. we are getting inside. all the way inside. this is where is reilly students would be hiding if, of course, they had been in school today. it was a rocket day. we just heard the explosions overhead and that was really close. we literally just got to the scene of those rockets that you heard inside the bomb shelter. this is where the rocket hit, you can see the explosion through this cement wall and obviously right now there is a horrible smell of explosives in the air. this is what it did to a concrete walkway. you can imagine what it would have done to any person who

didn't take shelter, that is why you see everybody run, there is only about 20 seconds or so to get inside, this is satisfactory bush bethis is israel. the kids bike is mangled, but thankfully the kid is still alive to ride it. in the gaza strip there have been a lot of palestinian kids killed and a number of civilians. of the hundred deaths or so about half of them have been civilians inside the gaza strip. the israeli air force has flown more than 3000sordis into the gaza strip bombing and trying to get hamas to stop the rocket fire. the cease-fire negotiations are going on trying to prevent the ground offensives which would have tanks rolling over these hills and into the gaza strip. we are told they may be close,s egyptian prime minister is saying that, but it is far from a don deal. jon. jon: what are the israelis saying about the civilian deaths inside gaza strip a when they take place, leland? >> reporter: they say they are doing their very best, they

place phone calls to the houses before they bomb areas, they send sms text messages. they say obviously it's tragic when people die. eleven people of one family were targeted in a house which appears to be an assassination gone wrong. this is terrible. hamas is using things to store their weapons. hamas and command and control centers are located inside civilian populations. israelis say they have to go after that, they do their very best with laser guided things but a certain amount of civilian deaths are unavoidable. jon: we will tha be talking later about that. jenna: let's bring in john a than that chanzer the author of hamaz versus fatad.

let's talk about the rockets that leland showed us there coming from gaza into israel. you say the rockets tell a story all their own, what is that? >> jenna what we've seen over the last ten years is that hamas has been firing shorter-range rockets into israel. every time it happens you don't sigh the israelis going in and trying to root them them out. we have an interesting story right now, hamas smuggled in what one official described to me as game-changer rockets. they are iranian made. and about a hundred of them were imported into gaza via sudan it appears. and when the israelis learned of the existence of these rockets all it look was one provocation on the part of hamas for israel to go in and wipe out those rockets, and those launchers. that's what we saw for the first day or two of this conflict. now i think the israelis are hunting down some of the smaller rockets that are hitting the areas around there where we just saw a report.

but bottom line is it was these game-changers that prompted this attack. jenna: a lot there. let's talk about bits and pieces of that. first the rockets coming from iran but through sudan into gaza, is that the path? >> that is the smuggling route. it will go from sudan, we think probably from the outskirts of khartoum up through port sudan on the coast, up into egypt across the sinai peninsula into the tunnels and into the gaza strip. jenna: is egypt complicit in this? >> that is a big question. and i think it's a question that very few in the media have bothered to ask. for the last several months the government of mohammed morsi in egypt has really been seen the responsible party for hamas. it was assumed that morsi had brought hamas under his wing and he was insuring that there would be calm. all of a sudden we find that hamas has these rockets smuggled into their territory likely through egyptian smuggling routes. the question is, what's egypt

irrelevant or complicit. either way this looks horrible for the egyptians. jenna: of the rockets that were smuggled in, to the best of our knowledge and a lot of this depends upon intelligence that maybe we don't have access to, are all the robots smuggled in the longer-range robots, have they been destroyed by israel or are there more out there? >> we've seen israeli officials, including the ambassador here in washington, michael oren say that more than 90% of the rockets they are looking for have been neutralized. that said i have to wonder whether there was an israeli intelligence failure. the fact *t fact they were even brought into israel in the first place, these are rockets that the israelis under no circumstances would allow to remain in the gaza strip. my question is how long have they been there and do they have a real handle on how many are left? we see the occasional one fired till seu suggests that hamas still has a few in their poe testing. jenna: what is the goal? you've traveled all around this region to gaza and beyond. what is the goal of these

rockets, these type of rockets being fired now? >> it's unclear to me, because, you know, hamas knows they can't win this war. what they are doing is flexing to muscle. they are demonstrating that they are the leading party within the palestinian people. to a certain extent one might argue that they are trying to up stage the plo, of course the plo is about to declare a state at the u.n. later this month they are asking for an upgrade of their mission there, and so hamas may be trying to steal the thunder of their rival the plo. but, you know, one knows for sure that they cannot destroy israel, they can't defeat israel here. what they are inviting is potentially a ground operation which would devastate the gaza strip. jenna: so much we want to talk about, jonathan, we never have enough time. we look forward to having you back as always. thank you so much. >> my pleasure. jon: right now both republicans and democrats saying they are on the same page, that they can reach a deal to avoid sending the country over the so-called fiscal cliff. but it appears the stickyist of

sticking points, raising taxes on the wealthy is still standing in the way of any compromise. >> we are still at the place where everything gets hung up, no increases in tax rates, that is still the position of house republicans, correct? >> well, again, we'd be happy to look at that if it solved the problem. the problem is it doesn't solve the problem. we want a real khraougs, which meansolution. >> can you accept a deal that does not include tax rate increases for the wealthy? we've seen talk about a possible compromise that would leave rates the same but cap deductions for high income easterners. is that something that is acceptable. >> no. jon: rich edson is with the fox business network, in washington with the latest. i'm sure there is a solution just within reach, right, rich? >> that's right. a couple of days away here. well staff members for congressional leaders at the very least in the white house are working out details, preparing for the next high-level white house meeting between democrats and

republicans, that is loosely scheduled for some time after thanksgiving. both sides have reported progress on fiscal cliff talks, though considerable differences remain between democrats and republicans and how to avert hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts and tax increases schedule -d for january. the two sides are hung up on tax rate increases and major changes to medicare, medicaid and social security. >> all we're even looking for at this point is a raise of an eyebrow or a head fake or anything at all that acknowledges that these entitlement programs have to be part of the mix. >> simply transferring costs onto individuals does not address the fundamental problem. >> reporter: congressional leaders may strike a deal before january's deadline but that may only be the beginning of a lengthy deficit cutting process. negotiators are discussing a deal that would create savings and revenue targets through spending cuts and tax reforms. democrats and republicans would

spend the next year working out the details, trillions in politically unpopular measures with the goal of more money coming into washington and less leaving it. jon. jon: witch edison from the fox business network. we'll see what happens. thanks. jenna: the fbi joining the manhunt in new york city for a possible serial killer or killers. the connection all three victims have and why the police say they now need the public's help. also new developments in that horrible veteran's day tragedy in west texas last week. four members of our military killed when a train collided with their parade float. what investigators are doing today that will hopefully provide some answers. begin. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh!

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jon: new amateur video just into the fox newsroom of rockets being fired from gaza strip a into southern israel.

1900 of them to this point so far this year we are told. israeli citizens have been told to stay within 15 seconds, 15 seconds of some kind of a bomb shelter, or safe place. this is a daily occurrence, and the heightened number of these things that have been launched obviously has israel responding. again, 1900 so far this year, and when they land many of them are intercepted by the iron dome system, which determines whether or not the trajectory of that rocket is potentially going to be headed toward a populated area. if it's not they leave it alone. some do get through, like this one that we saw from leland vittert a little while ago. fortunately nobody was hurt in this particular rocket attack, but very, very scary. jenna: right now, new developments in the manhunt for a possible serial killer right here if new york city.

the three victims were all shopkeepers all found shot to death inside their stores in brooklyn and now police are looking for four people seen in the areas of the shootings. this man seen here with a duffle bag, you can barely make that out, kind of on the back side you can see, his image has been captured by security cameras. also this woman police call they are jane doe, seen wearing a long coat, she was spotted about a block from last friday's shooting, and there are two others that police are hoping to talk to as well. antawn lewis from w nyw has this report. >> the nypd believe that they are looking for a serial killer. the gun used to kill a shop owner in flat bush brooklyn on friday is believed to have been used in two other murders in july and back in august. that's why the term serial killer is even being floated around. another common thing among all three incidents is that the shop owners, all shop owners have been over the age of 50, worked by themselves and all of middle eastern decent. all of these factors are things

that the police are looking into to try to find out who is responsible for these cases, and they are also looking at some video because they leave they have a witness to the incident that happened here on friday, where the most recent murder took place, again in brooklyn. they are trying to track down this individual just to ask a couple of questions, just to see what this gentleman may know about all three of the incidents with particular regard to what happened here on friday. so we'll keep you updated. this is the very latest from flat bush brooklyn. back to you inside. jenna: thank you to our fox affiliate for that report showing us again the video of the man with the duffle b city e offering 22,000 dollars leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects in these cases. jon: well, adding insult to injury for some of the hardest hit victims of super storm sand tkaoerbg see, some homeowners who have lost everything are now in trouble with the city of negotiate. you won't believe why. plus church groups are going to

court to try to get back a christmas tradition, nativity scene has depict the first christmas. they have been pulled from santa monica. it's kind of an unusual twist after atheist groups flood the park with displays of their own like this one, a fair & balanced debate coming up next. frank, instead of scratching your way to retirement, get on e-trade. set up a real plan. frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face. [ gasps ] [ male announcer ] get a retirement plan that works... at e-trade. aisle 2. good. aisle 8. nice. trick question. walmart doesn't sell your mother. you're ready. [ male announcer ] black friday's back. savings start thursday at 8 pm. with electronics starting at 10 pm. the first and only place to go this black friday. walmart. is the same frequent heartburn treatment as plosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america.

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jon: right now, several church groups in santa monica, california are in federal court after the city announced it was canceling a nearly 60-year-old holiday tradition. for all those decades life size nativity scenes entertained residents in a park overlooking the ocean during the christmas season until last year when several atheist groups filed petitions to set up their own displays. they actually got one, like this

one showing a picture of jesus, the devil and santa claus and asking, what myths do you see? the atheist groups wound up getting 18 of the 21 available spots. because of the uproar it all caused santa monica is canceling the nativity displays all together. let's get a fair & balanced debate underway. tamee bruce is a radio talk show host and fox news contributor. robert policy senior policy analyst for separation of church and state. >> i don't identify as a christian and i do believe in god. i've always found it ironic that the atheist identity actually relies on christianity, right. look, if this is an issue about what is displayed on public land, wherever there is a void on public land where there is no christian symbol at all highlights the atheist point of view.

would i agree with this dynamic that wherever there is no sign of anything at all on public land perhaps we need to make sure that some christianity is seen there, considering that would only make it fair & balanced. i find that the whole argument here really is about narcotics a cystic selfobsession, and there are a lot of minorities, i'm one of them in this country, not everything has to be about us, does it? jon: robert we have been celebrating christmas in this country since before we were a country. why do some atheist have a right to squelch the holiday fun everybody else has been having for years. >> free speech means free speech. if there is a public space that is opened up to different messages, whether they be christian, buddhist, muslim or whatever it would include the right for nonreligious groups to use the space for their signs and symbols. the seems like the more speech the better. i don't know why the christian groups are being so intolerant in this case that they can't accept the fact that there might

be an atheist sign. they could put their nativity scene up, but just that the atheist will use the space that is there as well. jon: the judge will decide this. they are in court today to require that the booths be attended. you can't just at the tim just set it it up and walk away. you have to have somebody there 24-7. is that a potential alternative? >> 90% of people in american celebrate christmas regardless of their religious ideology. i hope the people of santa monica that have a history of wanting people to be able to live the lives that suits them best applies that. i think we have no problem with rules. i don't think that christians would have problems doing that. but i do think that there has got to be some recognition of if the antithesis of the christian message of atheism which is nothing, then what is the problem?

every other space reflects the atheist particular message. i think it's threatening, but i like the fact it's going to court so it can be cleared up. jon: robert, why not if you're going to allow the churches to set up this long established nativity scene set up that they've been doing for 60 years, maybe you give the atheists another corner of the park and say you can have that over there. what is wrong with that? >> in this case in santa monica they had a lottery. they allowed all groups to bid for a spot. the atheists worked harder and put in more applications and won most of the slots. jon: for years the slots went to 21 different church organizations. the atheists came in and overwhelmed them and they one. >> other groups are asking for their right to speak too. there are lengthy of churches in this community that would be happy and probably do display

nativity scenes on private property. why is there an even distance that we must merge religion and state to celebrate holidays. it is best done on private property. jon property. >> this ends up being about bullies. what iit's about imposing a dynamic that you want to feel as though you belong in a society where you are a minority. and ultimately it's about trying to change the face of the majority to meet you because you can't adapt. i think that this nation is tolerant, and this is about a fully dynamics. >> they are not being bullies, they are asking for the same rights that christian groups had for 50 or 60 years. >> your goal is to push them out. >> tell christian groups to get more aggressive. put in more applications, it's an open process it treats everybody fairly. >> it's not all but,. >> it's not going to be about the dominant religion either. it's about free speech for everybody and freedom for

everybody. >> which is brought to you by christianity, by the way. jon: the judge is hearing this case today. we'll see if she comes to some kind of accommodation that makes both sides happy. i don't know it doesn't look good right now. thank you both. jenna: in the meantime with all the talk about christmas is anyone nervous about christmas shopping having done nothing yet. jon: i haven't done anything yet jo i'll send ahh couple of links for research to get ahead of the curve. the fiscal cliff hanger and all the political drama surrounding it. how each side is digging in its heels waiting for the other side to blink first. the impact it will have on the white house and capitol hill. we are getting word today that companies are already pulling back their spending for next year. the fiscal cliff, that is just one of their concerns. what are the rest of those concerns that are impacting companies, the biggest companies in our country and what this means about our economy. we are going to have that

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jenna: welcome back, everyone. growing outrage today among some of the victims of hurricane sandy, some who have experienced some of the worst devastation during that storm including seeing part of their community literally go up in flames. you're seeing video of that on your screen from breezy point, new york. in the end, more than a hundred homes were destroyed, and if that wasn't enough, now we're hearing many of those homeowners

are being slapped with housing violations. senior correspondent eric shawn is live in breezy point with more on this story. eric? >> reporter: hi, jenna. imagine if your house was destroyed or severely damaged by hurricane sandy. you come home to the mess and find tacked to your front doors a notice threatening criminal prosecution. that's what's happened and has stunned some people here in breezy point when they get that surprise from the government. look at the damage of this house. the waves knocked this building off the foundations, it floated right next to the building next door which then hit house. and imagine this is your home. you've been dealing with all this, and then you come home and see this attached to your front door. it is a notice of deficiency from the department of buildings and says you are hereby notified there is a deficiency at this address, and you are ordered to remedy this deficiency. it tells you to repair and/or replace if possible to make sure you get all necessary permits. the folks here just can't believe it. >> i think the city needs to

work with us and not against us, you know? to impose a fine, to threaten violations, i mean, just look around. it's, obviously, people who have never stepped foot here. because if you saw what was going on here, you wouldn't have the nerve to put that on our door. >> reporter: a spokesman for the department of buildings says, quote, these violations were issued solely to document the damage that occurred, and property owners will not face any penalty as a result. they say it's part of the bureaucratic process to try and assess the damage from hurricane sandy from queens and also staten island. an estimated 891 homes and buildings are uninhabitable and may have to be demolished, they're considering massive demolishments of buildings in staten island and elsewhere sometime in the next two months. here's another issue that we have, look at this kitty cat. there are a lot of stray cats, this one seems to be well fed, belonging to a house over here. but they, like the people, just

walking around, and today the aspca right now, actually, is taking care of strays and taking them in, certainly a heartening sight when you know that the animals like this cat here is, that they're being taken care of. jenna: looks like you've got a little friend. do you have catnip in your pocket, eric? or is this whole thing staged? >> reporter: no, we're standing here, and the two just started coming right over, they need some loving. jenna: they see a kind soul. there you go, great report from breezy point. what a community affected by so much and all members of the family, including the pets, certainly affected. eric, thank you very much. jon: well, going over the fiscal cliff would affect every single american family, and the decision in any form will come out of the political drama playing out in washington. now, leaders from both parties say they will reach an agreement, but at the same time they seem to be digging in their heels over tax hikes and entitlements. so which side will blink first? meantime, the president keeping

his powder dry during a trip to asia. joining us now, the editor of campaigns and elections magazine. you know, they both sound optimistic, the democratic president and the republicans in the house. they say that they're willing to negotiate, they're willing to compromise, and yet compromise is going to mean one side or both sides give up their core principles, right? >> well, i do think there will absolutely have to be some concessions here, jon, there's no doubt. i think the one ting that truly could -- the one thing that truly could sort of stop this in its tracks is one or both sides sort of publicly drawing a line in the sand, and that's what you have to be careful for and look out for over the next couple of weeks. if you go back to the potential budget shutdown negotiations that were of, you know, ongoing, you know, a year ago, there was lines in the sand drawn by both sides of this. and i think that that is what sort of drags -- dragged it out

so long and brought us to the potential brink. and that's what you've got to be careful here. there are going to have to be compromises from democrats and republicans. for republicans, they're going to have to look at revenue. democrats are going to have to look at cuts, accept entitlement reform. otherwise we're not going to see a grand deal here. jon: from my stand point as an outside observer, it seems to me that the president really has the advantage here. first of all, he doesn't have to run for re-election again, worry about angering one side or the other, and he's got a more democratic senate than he had or will have once the senate convenes in january, more democratic support than he had before. >> there's no doubt the conventional wisdom here in washington is that president obama is sort of in the driver's seat with these negotiations. that being said, i think that there's a good deal of pressure on both sides here. if, indeed, we go over the fiscal cliff, there are a number of things that republicans are

tremendously concerned about, not the least of which is the tax increases, the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, capital gains tax increase. there are a number of things frightening republicans right now, there's a number of things that should truly be frightening democrats. democrats control the white house, they have a larger majority in the senate. there is certainly some onus on president obama, the white house and senate majority leader harry reid to show that the democratic party can govern in a moment of great fiscal crisis. so i think there's a tremendous amount of pressure to go around here. while the conventional wisdom is that the president is in the driver's seat, i think that there's plenty of leverage to be had on capitol hill. jon: and republicans are not likely going to want to give a whole lot on tax increases. >> there's no doubt. and that's why you sort of look for that line in the sand and whether or not it's going to be drawn on capitol hill. it's not too early to think about 2014 for senators who may be up for re-election in 2014

and even for members of the house. it's never too early in washington to think about your next election, so i don't think there's any doubt that members of both parties are going to potentially be looking over their shoulder at potential primary challenges depending on which way they go here. so the political implications are always there. jon: yeah. and since you edit campaigns and elections magazine, i'm sure you're thinking about it every day. >> indeed. thanks, jon. jenna: what about us? what about us and the fiscal cliff and the economy? you know, american businesses are already apparently bracing for what's coming next. firms are cutting investment by the most that we've seen since the recession of 2008. and while fear of the fiscal cliff is one factor, it's not the only factor, and that's why we wanted to talk more about this with charles payne, ceo of w street.com and a fox business network contributor, and peter morici, university of maryland. so, charles, not the only factor, the fiscal cliff, but what else is at play?

>> let's face it, jenna, we've got a very anemic economy. going back to last year when there were great fears about a double dip recession, we sort of cheered when it didn't happen, but we also have to realize we've been live anything a world where 2% growth has been great, obviously, we know that's not the kind of growth you're going to come in literally billions of dollars and hire people under the assumption that maybe things will simply get better. so we've seen this coming for a very long time, announced layoffs have actually begun to increase, capital spending, everyone's sort of holding back. and mostly it looks like companies are spending their money or using their cash they have on buybacks and raising dividends. but too intimidated by the rhetoric, the new rules and regulations and, of course, some of the other factors from the administration last year and the year before, not to mention, of course, the fiscal cliff looming. jenna: so, peter, is that in and of itself -- regardless of what

the politicians do -- enough to put us back into a recession? >> oh, absolutely. you know, if the politicians cut a deal by raising taxes and cutting spending so that we take about $300 billion out of the economy at a time when consumer spending has slowed a bit, business spending has actually gone negative, there are heavies on the -- layoffs on the way, conditions in europe, yes, i mean, that's enough to put us into a recession. the fiscal cliff would certainly do it, but the solution they're coming up with is fairly threatening. raising taxes at a time like this is ludicrous. for a president who says he understands and appreciates stimulus, this sounds like an irrational act. jenna: well, you were very optimistic in your editorial entitled off the fiscal cliff and into the abyss published today. [laughter] you know the president's argument, he says, listen, if we don't get taxes from the wealthy, if we don't raise revenue that way, it's simply not enough to cover our debt and deficit. i guess the broader question is, peter, are we concentrating

enough, all of us, on growth? growth policies, whatever those are and whatever the philosophy behind that? >> absolutely not. and the president understands some of the reasons why we're not growing. you know, when he originally campaigned, he said we have to do something about the trade deficit with china. and over and over again he has said on the side, you know, china's overvalued -- undervalued currency is keeping us from growing by making their products cheaper on american shelves and forcing out our products. there's the issue of the banks. they're not lending money. mr. bernanke in his speech last week talked about that. you can put all the liquidity in the world on their books, but if they don't lend money to small businesses, they can't create jobs. these are real, structural problems that have not been addressed, and finally, there's all that oil we could be producing instead of importing which would create millions of jobs. jenna: and, charles, something interesting we see that consumers feel differently than companies. consumer confidence is at a five-year high, consumers are spending. you know, even the companies are

saying they're not. so in a paradigm that is shifting and changing, can the american consumer save this economy simply by being optimistic and simply by keeping that money going into the economy? >> well, you know, listen, we know consumer spending is, you know, 70% of the economy, but, you know, it's interesting what consumers are using their money for these days. i call it a dropout nation. we're spending for good times in liquidity, but we don't put away money for savings, college or home ownership, the kind of things that long term really drive an economy. and peter mentioned small businesses. the president is really flippant about this when he talks about only 3%, the same 3% that generated 50% of the profits, 40% of the jobs and companies with less than 50 employees from october last year til october this year, they generated 713,000 jobs. they're going to have to pay obamacare taxes with employees, and can -- and then you add on

this tax, it is nuts. jenna: final answer from both of you, charles, you first and, peter, you get the last word, are you both expecting a recession here in the united states in the next year or two? >> maybe periodic recessions. i do want to point out real quick, jenna, that anyone thinks we're going to fall off a cliff overnight doesn't understand how great this economy is. for some, the experiment might actually feel good because look how long greece was able to go with this sort of nonsense. but believe it or not, the seeds are there. jenna: peter? >> yeah. i do think that if we do have a recession, then we're going to go down for a long time because we're already at close to 8% unemployment. if we have a recession, we're going to be looking at 12, 13. once you get to that kind of level, it's hard to resuscitate the economy even with stimulus spending. and those are, basically, the preconditions for a mild depression, that is a long period of high unemployment. jenna: peter and charles, nice

to speak to you both, i guess. >> i know. happy thanksgiving. jenna: happy thanksgiving, gentlemen. thank you. [laughter] jon: four u.s. veterans die when a freight train slams into their parade float. now we'll find out what, if anything, the train operator saw as they were approaching the crossing.

jon: some new details now on a horrific parade crash that left four u.s. veterans dead. happened last week in west texas when a freight train slammed into their parade float. now police want to know what, if anything, the train operator saw as they were approaching the crossing. casey steegal live this dallas. >> reporter: the national transportation safety board has told us that the driver of that parade float started to go through the intersection even though it has been ruled that the warning bells were sounding and the warning lights were flashing. the ntsb now has a better timeline in terms of what happened. they say that the warning devices had been activated about 20 seconds prior to this crash, then seven seconds later the gates came down.

nine seconds prior to impact the train sounded its horn. federal investigators have not released the driver's name but tell us he has submitted a blood sample at the hospital hours after thursday's crash, and today he'll be interviewed. engineers onboard that train will also be questioned. now, over the weekend memorial services were held in midland. people showed up to donate blood, a community, quite frankly, still in shock. >> it's amazing, the human spirit in moments of chaos like this. it's the same human spirit that we see in combat where when situations get chaotic and people need help, these veterans, they really rise to the occasion and begin helping each other. >> reporter: now, three of those killed were purple heart recipients, the fourth was in line to get one. parade organizers say that they had used this exact same route for the last three years because this was an annual event, but

investigators are still trying to determine if the proper permits were secured and if the railroad company was notified of the event. jon? jon: so many questions left to answer. a very sad story. casey steegal, thanks. jenna: and we'll think about those families. jon: they make it back from the war and then wind up dying in something like this. of. jenna: hard to make sense of it all sometimes. well, we're going to talk a little bit about the holiday ahead, especially when it comes to travel, and it's that time of the year again when you have highways and train stations and airports all just full of people trying to get home. we're going to tell you if the weather will cooperate with your plans around the nation. also, talk about putting the fox in charge of the henhouse, why this former highway safety director in one state didn't practice what she preached. that's ahead. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ]

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jenna: well, it is that time of year, highways and airports already getting jam packed. thanksgiving week is one of the busiest times to travel, in fact, we have some pictures out of oakland, california. the airport there already getting busy, the west coast already experiencing tough weather for travelers to navigate. maria molina is looking at potential trouble spots. we all want to know where those are. >> reporter: good to see you, and good to see those airports are getting busy already, nice to hear some people get off starting on monday for the holiday season, but we do have some trouble spots, and one is across portions of the pacific northwest. we've been seeing issues throughout the entire weekend. the sierra nevada mountain range picked up significant snowfall,

so anyone coming out skiing -- out to do some skiing, food news for you. very heavy rain across parts of seattle and portland, some places could pick up 5-10 inches of rainfall, so flooding is a concern. the roadways not looking too good. we're also expecting significant snowfall over the next couple of days across the cascade, so travel will be tricky and, of course, you factor in the wind, just not very pleasant. we do have one frontal system as we head east across portions of the great lakes into the central plains, but most of this activity is really light and is just going to continue to fizzle out. so no issues with travel. and last week we were keeping our eyes on an area of low pressure, we're actually going to be seeing very quiet weather across the northeast over the next couple of days including thursday for the macy's thanksgiving day parade in new york city. currently, airport conditions very quiet across many of the

big airport hubs and for wednesday looking good, nice across the entire eastern half of the country. westbound, though, still issues across the northwest. jenna: i can out of the corner of my eye see jon scott booking his ticket to go skiing. >> reporter: colorado. jon: i am very excited for this ski season. [laughter] hey, if you're going to be driving in massachusetts, you'll want to know what's in this story. she used to be -- [laughter] the top highway safety chief in massachusetts, but now sheila burgess is off the that job. jenna: i wonder why? jon: well, she got the news while she was on medical leave for a car accident in a state-issued car. but the irony doesn't end there. it seems burgess has quite a record, one that includes seven car accidents, four speeding tickets, two failures to stop, one incident of driving without a seat belt and one failure to show up in court. jenna: wait a minute, she's the highway safety chief? jon: highway safety chief, massachusetts.

jenna: just checking. jon: now, she's also a former fund raising consultant to candidates like congressman james mcgovern who apparently helped her get the job in the first place. once word of her driving record came out, she was reashined. you'll be happy to know that she does still have a job. jenna: still within public safety? jon: yes. [laughter] i guess you could argue that, you know, if you drive boston traffic, you have to be a little aggressive. jenna: okay. well, maybe. notice the eye roll. we'll just leave it there. i think that basically says it all. sometimes the irony is just a little thick, a little thick. well, the new laws in the washington and colorado, those laws of legalizing marijuana, well, they're causing a lot of problems. one of them is what to do with all the active marijuana cases on the books. we're live in denver -- jon's home state, by the way, of colorado -- where we're going to follow this story. also, new developments on the deadly attack in benghazi, and congress now launching an investigation into who changed

cia talking points regarding the deadly attack, although some say they were never changed. we're going to have the latest out of d.c. coming up. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more pcessed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i kn is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself.

jenna: noon here on the east coast, we start off with this fox news alert, the mideast on the brink. israel escalating its attacks on gaza. take a listen. a massive blast you see there in the center of your screen sending flames and thick smoke over the skies of gaza city, a stronghold of the terror group hamas. israeli troops are already prepared for a ground invasion if the order is given. the israeli military's now hitting hamas commanders. in fact, we have some brand new video from the israel defense force showing a strike on a building in gaza used by hamas as a media center. reports that the attack killed a senior militant there, but hamas

remains undaunted, firing at least 75 rockets into israel today including one that hit an empty school. more details on our top story moments away. but first, more breaking news and developing stories on a brand new hour of "happening now." jon: some lawmakers if the administration changed cia talking points about what really happened on the ground in benghazi on 9/11 of this year to leave four americans murdered. the latest reaction from members of the house intelligence committee. how would the great communicator assess where the republican party stands right now, and what advice might the late president ronald reagan have provided to help shape the gop's future? one reagan biographer thinks he knows. and some folks already camping out for black friday deals, but that's not the only day when shoppers find bargains. ♪ jon: but first, back to the latest in the middle east.

a dangerous conflict on the verge of spiraling into an a all-out war as two arch enemies show no signs of backing down. welcome to the second hour of "happening now," i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee, and the fighting rages on between israel and hamas. israel bombing a wider range of targets in gaza. but militants there, as we mentioned at the top of the show, retaining their firepower and not backing down, launching dozens of rockets into israel today including attacks hitting homes and an empty school as well. talks to arrange a ceasefire seeming to go nowhere. hamas says it's willing to stop the fighting if israel meets its demands, but israel saying hamas just first stop its attacks. the fighting is really capturing the world attention. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon. so timing is everything, isn't it, jennifer? tell us a little bit about what we're seeing this now. >> reporter: well, it needs to be seen, jenna, in the context of israel's concern, its larger

concern about iran. here's the ambassador to the united states, michael orton. >> our problem is not our border with gaza, but other countries' boards with gaza -- borders with gaza and arms that come from iran through sudan. among the rockets being fired at us are those which come directly from iran. we know that hamas terrorists have trained with the iranians. there's a strong connection. >> reporter: in the few years, jenna, hamas has been stockpiling these rockets with the help of iran. hamas and hezbollah to the north in lebanon have become proxy groups for iran. israel has long known that if it participates in a strike on iran's nuclear program, that iran will use hamas and hezbollah to fire rockets into israel. in a way israeli officials believe they will have to deal with the rockets from gaza sooner or later, and it's likely they will send in ground forces so these longer-range rockets will not be able to strike

israel down the road. jenna: we've mentioned the ground forces are there, they're at the ready for that one order to cross over and begin this ground operation, but where does the pentagon stand on any escalation between the israelis and those inside gaza? >> reporter: well, the pentagon is watching the developments very closely just as they did back in 2006 when hezbollah provoked a war with israel and fired hundreds, if not thousands of katusha rockets into israel. these rockets being fired into israel from the gaza strip are, as the ambassador mentioned, some of them are faja-5 and modified grad rockets that have a much longer range meaning they can strike tel aviv and jerusalem. that's something hamas has never been able to do in the past. but they have, it has, it has the israelis very concerned because most of these rockets have been smuggled in the last two years through the tunnels from the gaza strip to the sinai when hosni mubarak was in

control of egypt before the arab spring, he prevented those rockets from coming through. now the iranians can help hamas bring those longer-range rockets through according to most intelligence estimates. the pentagon is also watching very closely the performance of the iron dome anti-missile system that was developed with millions of dollars of u.s. taxpayer money to help protect israel. this was a joint u.s./israeli technology, and so far it seems to be working pretty well, shooting down nearly 80-90% of the incoming rockets if the initial reports are to be believed, jenna. jenna: so much to continue to watch many this region. jennifer, thank you so much for that. the conflict unfolding in gaza is taking place in a new middle east, you know? there's no more mubarak there in egypt that's keeping some of these rockets and potentially these missiles from getting into gaza. old allies are gone, we have questions about who our friends are in this region, and there's a lot of unpredictable leaders in a very turbulent time, so

we're going to discuss what role america can play here a little later in the program. jon: lawmakers are demanding answers about the administration's talking points about the deadly attack in benghazi. so far they have found no intelligence failures since the cia quickly blamed the attack on terror im. well, now lawmakers want to know why terrorism was deleted to talking points from susan rice who claimed the attack grew out of a spontaneous demonstration. >> what i found fascinating about this investigation and, again, my role here in my mind was to say was there an intelligence failure, if so, how do we prevent it from happening again? it went to this so-called deputies committee that's populated by appointees for the or administration, that's where the conversation shifted. jon: what are your questions right now? >> well, you know, i think it was pretty clear from the testimony of general petraeus that initially the intelligence community got it wrong. there's been a lot of focus on the fact that the general

thought it was terrorism from the beginning, buttal of us thought -- but all of us thought it's an act of terror. they also thought there was a protest that preceded the assault. the general thought that, the intelligence community thought that, and they were wrong. and, you know, one of the questions that i've been asking is why did it take us so long to get it right, but it did take us time. in particular, it took us time to get some of the video evidence that was really the most telling in terms of the chronology of what took place. there are also, i think, some legitimate questions about the security we had there, that the pickering commission will delve into. what will it take to better protect our diplomats on our posts around the world in this challenging environment that we're in? all these, i think, are legitimate, but i'd love to see us end the partisan wrangling over this and return to what i think ought to be the essential focus, and that is where are we on the hunt for those responsible and bringing them to justice? jon: there were two attacks we're talking about here, obviously. one on the consulate and then

one, apparently better organized with the use of mortars, that kind of thing, that hit the cia safehouse some hours later. are you thinking that perhaps some of the lives lost in that second attack could have been saved or should have been saved? >> well, you know, i think it's really a question of whether we had adequate security there and how much of this we can foresee. um, the folks that were involved acted in the most heroic ways, and i wish we could get out more of the information, frankly, about the heroism involved in those that were at the annex and those at the diplomatic post. one of the things, again, i think the pickering commission will answer is exactly those questions, whether there was too much reliance on those in the annex to provide security or too little security at this temporary facility in benghazi. but one of the points here i don't want to have lost in all of this confusion is the fact that we can't turn all of our diplomatic posts into bunkers, and there's opinion an increasing bunkerrization of our

embassies and consulates. if our diplomats become too insulated and isolated, they can't be effective, and this is something ambassador stevens knew better than anyone. these are courageous people, and there are just certain risks that even under the best of precautions aren't going to be overcome. jon: i know you are a supporter of ambassador rice, you have defended her publicly, but didn't she get it wrong on the morning shows? >> well, we all had it wrong that very day that she went on the morning shows, because the agencies at that time including the cia thought that this began as protests. the question that remained at that time and, frankly, one of the questions we still have is to what degree was this preplanned? was this something cobbled together within 24 hours or the same day? but the intelligence community's best estimate at that time was that it began as a protest, and that's why the board represented that -- the ambassador represented that, because that

was given to us literally late in the afternoon before the morning that she went on. and i don't see how we can fault her for relying on what the intelligence community said was there best sense of what took place. and one final point, if she had departed from that, if she had speculated or revealed classified sources of information, then i think she would have been the subject of criticism for ignoring what the intelligence community had to say. jon: right. >> and that, i think, would have been well-placed criticism. jon: well, and we know there are things you know as a member of the intelligence committee in the house that you can't share with us. we appreciate you coming on. >> well, jon, great to join you. jon: thank you. jenna: conservatives are gathering in the nation's capital right now, including one called the texas immigration solution. that focuses on establishing a guest worker program and freeing up law enforcement to focus on border security. chief congressional corps responsibility mike emanuel is live from washington with more on in this story.

mike? >> reporter: well, hi, jenna. yeah, these conservatives are talking about the need to change both action and on the on immigration. they're saying fair, comprehensive immigration reform is the right thing to do, but they do say technology needs to be used in the form of a high-tech social security card, using thumb prints to avoid the fake id problem, and then securing the worlder will be easier if business owners are following the rules. >> then you cite to employers you hire someone who doesn't have either this identity card or this new social security card, and you're going to go to jail for six months. >> reporter: richard land says republicans lost the 2012 election when governor rick perry from texas was booed last year for texas' program allowing illegal aliens to have instate tuition. since mom won only 27% of the latino vote, that has sounded the alarm with some republicans. enter florida senator marco rubio who has been talking about the immigration issue, reaching

latinos and did that over the weekend in iowa. [cheers and applause] >> i think that we need to modernize our legal immigration system. and let me tell you about our immigration system. this is the most generous country in the world when it comes to immigrants. one million people a year immigrate here legally. no others close to that figure. but the system needs to be modernized. it needs to take into account the opportunity that it creates for investors or for jobs. >> reporter: rubio has been working with kay bailey hutchison and jon kyl on something called the achieve act which would seek to give the children of illegal immigrants legal status here to serve in the military without them jumping ahead of those waiting their turn. president obama took executive action on this problem with the dream act, but that is only temporary, so these republicans are considering if they can bring a permanent solution up for a vote before the end of the year. jenna in. jenna: a big story for the next several weeks. mike, thank you. jon: a fox news alert, and a situation underway right now at laguardia airport.

one of those aircraft, we believe it's the one with its tail to us, is a spirit airlines plane that was supposed to take off from laguardia at 10:45 this morning headed for ft. lauderdale. but a flight attendant onboard heard a customer, a passenger say something that sounded threatening, so they have pushed that plane over to a part of the taxiway that is not used. you can see the flashing lights and the police cordon around it. they are going to have to take all of the baggage off of that flight, rescreen it. apparently, the passengers will stay onboard through this process. and then if everything checks out okay, they're going to get underway again. so if you're in ft. lauderdale and expecting someone on a spirit airlines flight that was due to arrive early this afternoon, it's going to be a long wait. jenna: more on that as we get it. in the meantime, one american astronaut returns to earth after four months in space, but where she landed is just one part of her final journey home.

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jon: president obama touching down if cambodia earlier today on the final leg of a tour of southeast asia. also his last overseas trip with secretary of state hillary clinton. mr. obama becomes the first president to set foot in that country, he is there for a high-level conference as well as to push for fair elections and the release of political prisoners. all this on the heels of a historic visit to burma. chief white house correspondent ed henry is live with the latest. i know the president has been criticized for even going to burma. how's he handling that, ed? >> reporter: well, it's interesting because there were flag-waving crowds, american flag-waving crowds greeting the president there in burma, but human rights activists have suggested that since there's still coming out of military rule, that maybe the president

should not have made this visit. i think he did two thing, he met with awning song suu kyi who had been under house detention for 20 years, met with her, but also when he delivered remarks there in burma, he made clear this is just the beginning of a long journey and that they have a lot of work to do to prove that they are really turning the corner on human rightings. take a listen to the president. >> this remarkable journey has just begun. and has much further to go. reforms launched from the top of society must meet the aspirations of citizens who form its foundation. the flickers of progress that we have seen must not be extinguished. >> reporter: now, the president raised some eyebrows by referring to the country as myanmar, that's the way the military regime had preferred it. the white house is saying the president was just extending a

diplomatic courtesy to the new president there in burma by saying that, but the bottom line is it's known as burma, and that is u.s. policy, jon. jon: and the president is not going to china on this trip, but it's definitely on his radar, right? >> reporter: yeah. part of this trip is trying to send a message to china that the u.s. has allies in the region and that china's not going to get all of the attention from some of these emerging countries there in asia. that message from the president, though, overshadowed a bit, of course, by the fact that this violence in gaza is getting so much of the world's attention and, in fact, it was notable that when the president had a news conference in thailand, one of the questions us about the situation there in gaza and the violence. the president saying while israel has a right to defend itself, he also wants to see a deescalation of the violence on the ground, jon. jon: i would just guess the iranians are happy that the gaza situation is getting lots of the world's attention too. ed henry, thank you.

jenna: there's lots of talk over what's next for the republican party. should the gop be looking back to the future? what the party could learn from ronald reagan when it comes to the facing the next decade. a reagan biographer joins us with his take on all of this. also, a statute of the late pope john paul ii igniting a controversy in rome. the makeover sparking a -- the uproar causing a hasty makeover. straight ahead. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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jenna: talk about the fiscal cliff and the economy, we wanted to show you what's happening with the dow this week. holiday week normally is light trading, but you can see the dow is rallying more than 170 points after a few tough weeks on wall street. a couple reasons for this, we have existing home sale, those are already-built homes that are being sold as a big part of the

market. there was a little bit better than expected news in the housing market, and also we're seeing some interesting stocks rally including food stocks. maybe investors are hungry, maybe they're looking for a safe spot to park their money like in a campbell's soup stock, for example, but those stocks are, ironically, rallying today. jon: they must have seen my shopping bill last night. i did the thanksgiving shopping. jenna: the whole thing? jon: i hope so. jenna: ahead of the game, jon. good. [laughter] jon: right now the streets of rome are buzzing with fresh reaction to a redesigned statue of poap -- pope john paul ii after the first statue met sharp criticism from the public and the vatican. >> reporter: and the italian artist says, quote, from difficulties sometimes new ideas are born. in other words, people didn't like the old statue, so here at least -- so he's trying to fix it. the vatican was the most ardent

critic of the structure. some called it a refrigerator, others plained it looks more like mussolini than the beloved polish pope, and many said it didn't look like anyone at all. so the artist went back to work, came up with small solutions which focused painly on the pontiff's face. he asmiles now and has a neck -- he smiles now, has a neck and a chin. his arm is gesturing in welcome and protection. the greenish hue also evened out, and the statue now has its own enclosed pedestal. of course, there will always be critics, some still don't like it, but the head for the department of cultural heritage in rome says with contemporary art, you have to wait years before judging, so take your time. jon: okay. you know, i tend to like, i guess, not contemporary art. [laughter] i do see the resemblance in the face. >> reporter: now you do. jenna: everyone's a critic. there we go. [laughter] good thing we can't say the same

thing about news anchors. we could use it every once in a while, right? after suffering some setbacks in the last election, the republican party is having a very public debate about which way to go, and our next guest says the gop is in the middle of a true identity crisis because it simply does not know what it wants to be. craig shirley is the author of two books on ronald reagan and his presidential campaigns, including "rendezvous with destiny." he's also the president of shirley is if banister communications company. so a true identity crisis you say that's been coming on for a couple years. it doesn't have to do with this most recent election. why? why do you think the gop is in the middle of an identity crisis? >> well, thank you, jenna. it came to a head, obviously, with the election of two weeks ago, but it's a problem that's been brewing for some time. that's why you saw the outcropping of the tea party movement, because they felt the republican party had grown into a second big political party in america much like the democratic party, and i think a lot of people see it that way today.

reagan found himself in a very similar situation after 1976 after gerald ford had to jimmy carter, and he went out and gave speeches calling for what he literally said, a new republican party. it can no longer be the party of the corporate boardroom, it can't be the party of the country club, it has to be the party of the individual, it has to be the party of the shopkeeper, the cop on the street, the homemaker, but it cannot -- centralizing in authority in washington was antithetical to a conservative republican not my. jenna: so even during the republican primaries we saw this debate about, you know, mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most conservative of them all. and we've seen this conversation continue now in the last two weeks. did reagan have a similar tension he had to navigate about what a true conservative really is in. >> you know, that ooh's a good question. -- that's a good question. he went through an intellectual evolution over time, so by the late '70s, he's a fully-formed, optimist

conservative who believes in federalism, who rallies and runs against the washington buddy system. he openly went after big business, big government, big labor, the big lobbyists and called for sending power and authority back to the states and localities and the individualings. so, yes, to your question in the early point in his career he wasn't fully defined as the modern conservative that he later became. but interestingly enough, he was always a revolutionary. even the eight years that he was head of the national government, nobody ever thought of ronald reagan as being part of washington. he may have been here, but he was always challenging the status quo, always challenging authority. jenna: do you see anyone that reminds you of reagan? >> no. no, but that's -- this is a very, very unique man. there's some people who understand him, there's some people who understand his philosophy, there's some people who articulate his philosophy, who, quote-unquote, get ronald reagan, but as far as -- presidents like reagan don't grow on trees. and, you know, that's why we've

had so few and far between great presidents from jefferson to lincoln to franklin roosevelt and then to reagan. jenna: one of the things you brought up in your op-ed piece recently was social issues like gay marriage or bigger, broader, you know, national issues like immigration, you say there's something in there for the republican party that is not necessarily issue-based, but a return to roquism. and if -- localism, and i think it's an interesting point that maybe we should discuss in the next several weeks and months. >> absolutely, jenna. you know, you're opening up a pandora's box. conservativism, when it was beginning to be coalesced in the aye 50s, there was a philosophy of fusionism which is that business interests felt they were threatened by big government, and so did social, family values were threatened by big government, so they found commonality in a low, in a small government philosophy, and that's what brought them together and formed the basis of conservativism for 40 years. beginning in 2001 and 2002 that pandora's box was opened with

the nationalization of social issues, and that is a very, very slippery slope to get into. because if you start nationalizing marriage, where do you draw the line? where do you stop nationalizing social policy? jenna: a lot of people say it needs better pr. you're a pr guy, it's not just pr. >> no, it's not. it's about commitment to principles. jenna: we look forward to having you back and continue to have the conversation. thank you very much. >> thank you. happy thanksgiving.jenna: you t. jon: the u.s. faces a new reality in the middle east as one of its closest allies becomes embroiled in military conflict. the u.s. says israel has the right to defend itself, but what could america's role be if the showdown escalates further? and in one state the voters spoke about what people can smoke. but the matter is hardly cut and dried. if we want to improve our schools...

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jenna: it is one of our top stories of the day, relentless fighting in the mideast. israel stepping up its attacks against targets in gaza with hamas firing right back. the united states says israel has the right to defend it self. with the arab spring the new political order in the miss east looks like uncharted territory. what role can the united states play if the conflict turns into an all out war. let's bring in michael singh, managing director for the

national institute for near east policy. we've seen this story between these two parties play out before. you say this time it's very different. why in. >> it is different this time, jenna, because obviously in the the interim we've had arab spring, arab uprisings in taoupb tunisia and elsewhere. they are caught in between their national interests and the u.s. egypt and israel share national interests in regional stability and counterterrorism, they are also caught against their ideology which identifies with hamas. the big question is how are we going to act, what is the u.s. interest here? jenna: let's start with the first point. let's concentrate on egypt for a moment here. we have guinea egypt over the years under different leadership billions of dollars of aid.

what can we reasonably expect under this new leadership considering our past relationship in. >> this is the very first test of that. that aid was based on this idea we had shared interest, we were working together on stability and commerce in the region and so forth. the new leadership those interests haven't changed for egypt. the tame terrorist groups that target israel target egypt. you see this sharp rhetoric out of the president of egypt and the president of turk kaj and so forth. i think what president obama will want is for the president of egypt to act on the basis of his interest and not his ideology. jenna: jenna: are we clear enough, michael about our interests, about our ideology as the united states right now in that region or otherwise? >> it's a great question and i think that other parties in this region are waiting to see what we do as well. we'll have to play a strong and energetic role here. the dissidents that we've shown in the arab uprisings are talking about a paoeuf srot to

asia and the president is in asia right now have given people in this region the impression we are no longer very interested in playing the brokering role here. we need to show that we are going to play that brokering role, a leadership role in the region. jenna: how? >> we have to put a lot of pressure on egypt which is still a close allive. we have a strong relationship with. on turkey which is a nato partner. on qatar where we credit a significant air base. we have to say to hamas that they have to de-escalate. they drive on instability and chaos which these other countries don't ultimately want. jenna: ultimately other countries you mentioned don't want to see a nuclear iran. we've seen the connection between iran and ha hamas over the last several years. what happens if that doesn't happen? what happens if those countries that you mention don't step up, don't put pressure and we decide to remain relatively uneven gauged. uneveunu.n. engaged.

what happens if we don't double down and don't get more involved and those players don't put pest you are on hamas. >> you'll be looking at a much more chaotic and much more turbulent middle east going forward. in the absence of u.s. leadership in that region instead you'll have the sort of medium sized regional states like turkey, egypt, iran jocking for influence against one another. i think that that could breed condition tphreubgt in the region. jenna: you don't think chaos is inevitable? this is something also we hear, this is going to happen. >> i don't think it is inevitable. we have to try and forge a new system in this region where again you have a system with the united states at the center based on shared interests. those interests have not changed. one thing you see in egypt is that ordinary egyptians don't want to be involved in war, they want economic growth and peace. jenna: what do we need exactly,

specifically, does the president need to go to israel, do you need that type of show of presence in that country? when we talk about clarity there, what does that actually look like? >> i don't know if the president needs to go to israel. u.s. officials need to be very involved. we need to have strong channels of communication both with israel and the egyptians and other regional states and i i think we need to be delivering clear and tough messages again to states like egypt and turkey and qatar to say look, stop with the grandstanding and rhetoric and let's act based on our shared interests here and hammer out a solution that will leave all of our interests better off and not worse off which is what we are sort of creeping towards now. jenna: a story we'll continue to watch. great to have your input as always. thank you. jon: new developments from the fallout over the marijuana vote in colorado. prosecutors across that state are trying now to figure out what to do with active cases that are still in the system. this after voters moved to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

what happens to those already facing charges? one of the many thorny issues. alicia acuna has that live from denver. >> amendment 64 does not become law until mid december when the governor actually certifies it. fending where you are actually standing in this state today determines whether you get in trouble. if i go to well county and have less than an ounce of marijuana with me i could get picked up and prosecuted according to the district attorney there. he's i shall ao issued a statement, accordingly we will not be dismissing existing marijuana possession cases. our office prosecutes lower level marijuana cases to have people get help with addictions. that will continue until state law changes. let's say i come back to denver or boulder and have an ounce or less of marijuana. i'm under the age of 21 and haven't committed any other

crimes i'll i'm not going to get prosecuted even though it's not the law yet. and that is not just the case in denver or in bolder. additionally, depending on the jurisdiction some d.a.'s have decided to dismiss pending possession cases that fit this description as well. colorado is one of two states where voters decided marijuana can be used recreationally if folks are 21 or older. the denver d.a. says in the past his office delegated prosecutorial authority for marijuana cases, so this became a budgetary thing. >> so, i made an economical decision, basically don't waste your resources, don't prosecute any more of these cases as special district attorneys. >> this does not mean that anyone who has been busted can just not show up for court. the arrest or citation does not just disappear. those with previous possession cases must go through the motions of proving they meet the age requirement, and of course a lot of these cases have other

charges connected to them, so you have to prove that you haven't committed other crimes, because, jon as you know a lot of folks just don't commit one crime at a time. jon. jon: as i said, lots of thorney issues to workout there. thank you. jenna: an american astronaut is back on earth after four months in space. where she landed and why it's just one part of her journey home. how the mainstream media covers deadly fighting in the middle east. are they being fair to both sides? we'll take a closer look ahead.

jon: the escalating violence in the middle east claims more lives every day while both sides point fingers as to who is to blame. israel reacting to a deadly barrage of rocket attacks while launching targeted attacks on suspected militants. how are the mainstream media covering all of this? gyjim pinkerton is an editor

and writer for a conservative newspaper. alan colmes is the author of thanks for saving american. you say the headlines and pictures and so forth tend to be not fair. what do you mean? >> they tend to follow the explosion. so if four days ago the palestinians fire 500 rockets at israel indiscriminately aiming at anything they can hit and since then as you said in what you just said, jon, that quote the israelis are, quote, targeting, as best they can where the missiles are coming there the problem with the media is the media covers the israelis getting hit four days ago and every since they cover palestinians getting hit and they seem therefore to miss the issue of causation, who went first. the palestinians fired first and the israelis are responding to the palestinian attacks that is perfectly within international law but the pictures for the last four days or the period of

days will be of palestinians getting blown up, and the media don't seem to make the distinction between who actually started this. jon: yeah, alan we've all seen probably that picture of the palestinian father holding up his toddler son wrapped in a blanket who was killed in one of these israeli air strikes. yeah, your heart goes out to these people but all they would have to do is as a people stop launching rockets against their neighbor, right? >> i wish it were that simple. i would like to think that we could solve this. or the world could help solve this by some kind of action like that, but, you know, the media is going to go where the action is, and also we know that this began in late october with shelling directed at southern israel, but if israel is going to have a more aggressive reaction than internationally is felt is warranted, they are going to have very tough press coverage, because it will not be regarded internationally

favorably toward israel if they overreact to this on going shelling they've had to live through. jon: well gaza city is one of the most densely packed, you know, square miles or few square miles on earth, jim, if you drop a bomb there you're going to kill people. >> right, look i don't think there is any doubt that alan is correct that the international opinion as distinct from american opinion is against israel on this. one need only look at the kind of analysis done by the committee for accuracy in middle east reporting in america, a grouped call camera.org. you can find plenty of evidence that the bbc and afp are the palestinian side and treating the palestinians as victims and the israeli are aggressors. the media center has pointed out that even the american media tend to court of act with the

world media on this. when the palestinians say we've stopped if israelis will stop attacking us and they report that you're not adding the value of a reporter saying the palestinian is lying because they started it, i mean it's a huge challenge to keep your perspective even as there are heart tugging pictures -- jon: alan there is a poll out this morning i want to get your reaction. cnn released a poll. higher is the question, do you think israel was justified or unjustified in taking military action against hamas and the palestinians in the area known as gaza. 57% of the public say yes and they don't even mention the fact that hamas is a terrorist organization. >> i think people know that. people aren't dumb. people know it's a terrorist organization except for its political ring. israel ramped this up when they killed the head of their military organization a couple of weeks ago. the american media tends to be

pro israel. i don't know where jim comes down on that. generally the american media, israel is an ally and we view israel favorably tends to be very pro israel and we often don't get the palestinian perspective in the american media about what is going on. jon: we'll have to leave the discussion there for today. it's a story we'll continue to watch in the days and weeks ahead. let's hope they can get something figured out and end the bloodshed soon. thank you both. jenna: black friday lines are already forming. what about the other theme shopping day from cyber monday to free shipping day? all this may be great for retailers. what is really in it for you? we'll take a closer look ahead. questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person,

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jon: right now and american astronaut is back on earth along with two other soyz crew

members. though landed in kazakhstan after spending four months aboard the international space station. we hear they are safe and sound. senita williams conducted a spacewalk to fix a piece of broken equipment. another nasa astronaut has taken command of the interest national space station. jenna: that must be a crazy feeling. they are smiling. jon: gravity got to feel weird after four months. jenna: the holiday shopping season is almost here, black friday, cyber monday are days away. retailers are hoping you're going to shop on their web sites because of all this. online sales are expected to go up again this season. good news for the big companies. what is in it for us? we'll go to fox business network adam shapiro for tips and information to make this work for us. >> reporter: if you're one of 147 million people who they expect to hit stores on friday it will feel as if everyone is

hitting one store at the exact same time. take a look at some of the video of previous shopping holiday seasons. this is a very important time for retail sales. no need to tell but that. we've seen what happens. let's get into some of the numbers, because after people hit the stores it's all about the dollars they spend. here is what the nrf is actually predicting. you and i and the rest of the country are going to spend this holiday season, $586 billion a new calculation by the way. they use a new formula to come up with this figure. it's over the 471 billion from 2011. won't really be that much higher. the old calculation didn't include car parts, and my supervisor said, who gives car parts for a holiday gift? if you restore cars you need cash pwa rate ters and points, you need that kind of stuff. its it's a good gift to spend. we are only going to spend 9 bucks more. average spending $749 over $740 that people spent on holiday gifts last year. then when you look at cyber sales, cyber sales this year

expected to total $96 billion. cyber monday, that is the monday after thanksgiving expected to hit $2 billion on just that day alone. jenna, hope you get something nice. jenna: i hope so too. i'm looking at you, jon. >> reporter: get her a car pw carburator. jon: she loves her pickup truck well it's her husband's. jenna: how can you not love a chef see. jon: live reports from the region. we'll see if the muslim brotherhood is taking advantage of the chaos to bring down another u.s. ally. from a legat or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

jenna: the gold medal gymnastics team taking time from a national tour to visit the white house. once again everything they do goes viral. this is a photo you can see mckale louisiana there with president obama making her now famous not impressed face. she s